Two of Hearts (Alternate Ending #2)

"How did you guess my card?" Tai's son gasped as he held on to the two of hearts.

"Let's just say I had a feeling," Tai smirked as he nonchalantly shuffled the deck of cards. "I think it has to be my favorite card in the deck."

"Why?" Tai's son made a face.

"I dunno, it's just my lucky card, I guess," Tai shrugged. "So now where we?"

"I think you were pacing back and forth in front of the building like a stalker," Tai's son reminded him.

"Oh right…thanks," Tai said in a deadpan manner.

"God I'm so stupid, could I be any stupider? Look, I think they're looking at me right now. Okay, act natural…I'll just call a friend! That's what I'll do! Yeah!" Tai pulled out his cell phone and placed it by his ear. "Hey, ya busy? I could use some help!"

"Sure! Where are you?"

"I'm literally in front of Sora's apartment," Tai said.

"Okay! Why don't we meet at the apartment?"

"Sure! Sounds good. See you soon," Tai nodded and proceeded to make his way.

"Hey Matt, thanks for picking up the call," Tai said.

"No problem. Thanks for picking up the food…saves us a buttload on delivery fees. Those apps are literally highway robbery," Matt grabbed the pizza boxes from Tai.

"Oh, looks like the whole gang's here…well not the whole gang, but hey TK! What's up?" Tai smirked.

"Hey hey," TK waved.

"What's going on?" Izzy crawled out from underneath Yolei's computer desk and tossed some screwdrivers to the side.

"Eh…I took everyone's advice, and I don't think it will be applicable to my situation," Tai shook his head.

"Ooh, why not?" Yolei walked in from the kitchen with a big bottle of rum.

"She was with some other guy and they looked pretty chummy, sharing ice cream and looking like a couple," Tai frowned.

"No, I think you'll be fine for now. I met the guy, and she doesn't like him," Matt shook his head.

"How do you know?" Tai scoffed.

"I think he of all people should know Sora's reciprocal signals," Izzy said.

"Especially when they're towards your best friend," Matt said.

"Hkkk…ahem," Tess choked on his drink.

"Excuse me?" Tai dropped his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm not mad. Honestly. You didn't do anything wrong. I just wish that she said something to me. I don't blame her, you're a great guy…but that doesn't stop me from feeling used. Like a placeholder. Like that's all I'll really be, because if one of the most awesome girls I know only uses me so she doesn't feel lonely, then do I actually have value?" Matt shrugged.

"This went from 0 to awkward really fast," Izzy grimaced.

"No, of course not! Matt, you're an awesome guy too! I'm pretty sure Sora loved you!" Yolei poured a cup of rum and Coke for him.

"Thanks," Matt said.

"She's right! You're like my right-hand man!" Tai said.

"I thought I was-"

"Shh, not the right time," Yolei covered Izzy's mouth.

"Look dude, we've been through a lot together and we still managed to be best friends all these years later. Sure, we're like fire and ice, but opposites attract, right?" Tai nodded.

"I don't know if you're trying to make me feel better or propose to me right now. Either way, you're not doing a good job of it," Matt laughed.

"I would never! You're too superficial for me," Tai stuck his nose up in the air.

"That's fine, I was about to say you're too flat-chested for me," Matt stuck his tongue out.

"Not to bring it back to an uncomfortable topic, but what are you going to do about Sora?" TK twirled a pizza crust in the air.

"If I were you, I would wait it out a bit until I get a bit more info. I wouldn't do something spontaneous. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like this guy though," Matt said.

"What makes you say that?" Tai asked.

"Easy. She clearly doesn't look at him the same way she's looked at you," Matt nonchalantly grabbed a slice of pizza and dropped it on a plate. "Anyways, who wants to see photos of my new place in Florida? It's gonna look so sick!"

"Oooh, did you already get a place picked out?" Yolei gasped.

"Yep! Fully furnished and ready to move in! So if any of you guys want to take any of this furniture, it's dibs," Matt said.

"Sweet! I kinda like the race car bed, but I don't have a place to put it," Tess sighed.

"How about you move in with me and you won't have to worry about that?" Yolei grinned.

"What?" Izzy and TK stared at each other in shock.

"Are you serious? Or are you messing with me?" Tess raised an eyebrow at her.

"Serious as a heart attack," Yolei bit her lip seductively.

"If you seriously mean it, fuck yeah!" Tess exclaimed.

"But what about Shimmer Falls?" TK gasped.

"What about it? There's nothing there for me, and let's face it- nobody liked me there anyways until you guys came along. Now that Izzy's staying here, and Matt's moving, there's really no reason for me to stay around. I'm pretty sure Adelaide and Tori would be especially happy that I'm gone," Tess scoffed.

"That's not true, they like you," TK said.

"No. Don't lie for them. Besides, everything I own is in that backpack over there already! I'm golden, I'm not going back," Tess protested.

"Hey, I've been there before…somehow I always manage to make my way back to where I belonged the entire time," Izzy scoffed.

"Excuse him, he's just high on love," Matt mocked.

"How cute…about time. It was either gonna be you or I was gonna try to shoot my shot, just saying," Yolei shrugged.

"What?" all the boys dropped their food on the ground.

"Nothing," Yolei mischievously grinned.

"Hey Sora, how was your date with Willis?" Mimi smirked.

"Please no, it wasn't a date," Sora shook her head.

"Why? Did something happen?" Mimi looked concerned.

"No, everything is perfectly fine. He was a perfect gentleman, but let's not get it twisted. We were just meeting up for social media purposes only, nothing more," Sora said.

"What? But he's cuuuuteeee….and so nice!" Mimi whined.

"Then why don't you go out with him?" Sora snapped.

"No, not for me! Hey, what's really going on? You know you can tell me," Mimi grabbed Sora by the shoulder.

"It's stupid Tai…like I was just supposed to be having a fun, platonic time talking about my future career plans with Willis, but the entire time I was thinking how I wish I would spend more alone time doing this with Tai-"

"Eeep!" Mimi gasped.

"I knew, I shouldn't be telling you-"

"No! I freaking knew it! You fucking like Tai! As in you really, really like him!" Mimi excitedly nodded.

"Well, I don't think that matters anymore. He saw Willis walking me back to the door, and he kinda seemed worked up. About what, I don't know, but he did look mad…I wonder if he's mad at me," Sora started to bite her nail.

"Listen, first of all you need to stop biting your nail because that's a bad habit. Second of all, you need to stop worrying about what other people think, because I bet Tai feels the same way about you. I mean you guys have been friends for so long. I'm just surprised it's taking you this long to figure it out," Mimi pulled Sora's arms down.

"Fine, I confess…but now what do I do? He's always chasing after some pretty, new girl and I'm just me…," Sora sighed.

"Sora…you're more than just you. You're a centerfold model, who is gonna become the next hottest loungewear designer, and you're also a hottie and a smart, kickass girl. Believe that, any guy would be lucky to have you," Mimi nodded.

"Thanks for those kind words. But how does that help me?" Sora sighed.

"I think I have a plan…so Jonesy actually got offered a scholarship at Johnson and Wales and he wants to go. That sadly would mean the end of our RickRolls, but I was thinking about throwing a mini congrats party for him before we prepare…," Mimi rubbed her hands together.

"Wait…so no more Mimi and Jonesy?" Sora gasped.

"What can I say? It was a fun experience, but he'll get better opportunities!" Mimi said.

"What about you?" Sora asked.

"Well, when you broadcast yourself as a dummy in the kitchen, can you see any culinary schools throwing scholarships your way? It's okay though, I can just be an influencer! I can promote your loungewear for starts!" Mimi grinned.

"There you go, always finding a way to turn unpredictable circumstances into positive experiences," Sora smirked.

"I try to shake things up," Mimi grinned as she texted on her phone.

*tack tack tack*

"Hey, what's going on here?" Yolei watched as a blond couple hammered wooden planks over a door.

"Sorry, but we're closed for business permanently," the man said.

"With the pandemic, we simply can't afford to keep the restaurant running," the woman frowned.

"And we just couldn't bring ourselves to hire any outside help- not with this sickness going on. It's too much to carry on," the man said.

"That's a bummer…me and my friends used to love hanging out at this place," Yolei said.

"Really? I'm sorry, I don't think I recognize you," the woman frowned.

"I'm sorry. I think there were different owners at the time," Yolei said.

"Oh…so you guys didn't stick around for us? Can I ask why?" the blond man said.

"Personally, the atmosphere was a little too chaotic for us. We liked having a more relaxed place to go to, like a nice hole-in-the-wall, and one of our friends used to work there. So once they left, we left too," Yolei said.

"I guess that's understandable," the woman nodded. "I think maybe we were too ambitious, trying to bring back something from the past."

"No, sometimes keeping things the same is good- but you gotta figure out what needs to stay the same, and what needs to go," Yolei said.

"Yeah, I think for now, we're just going to take a sabbatical," the man said.

"So what's going to happen to the place?" Yolei asked.

"We're planning on selling it. We're not holding on to it," the woman said.

"Really? I'm interested. How much are you thinking?" Yolei asked.

"So what do you guys think? I spent a while writing it and some exec in Hollywood likes it a lot. He says it would be a great show for a streaming platform," TK proudly said.

"I don't like it," Izzy immediately frowned.

"What? I think it's awesome!" Matt gasped.

"You're my brother," TK said.

"I don't feel comfortable with this, especially under the premise that this is 'semi-autobiographical'," Izzy shook his head.

"Actually, I'll have to agree with him there. I personally like the story myself, but he's right. Especially since some of us are getting in the public eye, you should probably should tweak some details around. You're literally writing and dramatizing our lives," Sora hummed.

"And then next thing you know, if this goes to Hollywood, they'll have Tai and Matt hooking up with each other, or Joe having a foot fetish, or maybe Yolei being a stay-at-home mom with a shit ton of kids in the final season," Izzy frowned.

"Yeah, you kinda wrote us kinda gay. I could see people shipping us within the first five minutes already- shit, I'm shipping us," Tai skimmed through TK's screenplay.

"Do we really act like that?" Matt grabbed the screenplay.

"I changed the names, so no one will know it's you!" TK said.

"Wow, Sora to Sarah…Tai to Tom, Mimi to Gigi, Izzy to Ian. That's not really changing it by much," Tess frowned.

"Okay fine, I'll change the names to completely different ones. I'll change the setting too. Besides, if I make them more diverse, I think they'll like that," TK grabbed a red pen.

"It's not completely bad- I just didn't feel comfortable having the possibility of having my private moments and failures broadcasted on TV for people to see," Izzy frowned.

"It'll be loosely based on our lives, I'll take creative liberties! These characters are inspired by you, but they aren't you guys! Does that make you feel better?" TK asked.

"Maybe it would be better if you didn't market it as a 'semi-autobiographical' piece either," Sora said.

"Okay fine. I'll see what I can do about that. I can't guarantee, because I already pitched this idea like that. They already want a 10-episode season," TK said.

"As long as you try to keep these characters as separate from the real us. I didn't think about," Tai said.

"It's okay. I'll make sure that it won't be obvious," TK said.

"Congrats again! Here, I thought you would be writing books, but you take it to the next step and you're writing TV shows!" Matt hugged his brother.

"Thanks," TK bashfully said.

"Hey girls, guess what? I just did a thing!" Yolei gasped.

"Oh no, what did you do?" Sora bit her lip.

"I just bought a bar," Yolei flinched.

"What? Why?" Mimi gasped.

"You know that really tacky bar with the crap nailed onto the walls? They closed shop and I bought it from them for real cheap! I was thinking that I wanted to bring it back to the way it used to be!" Yolei exclaimed.

"How did you get the money for that?" Sora gasped.

"Hello? I'm an internet juggernaut! But who knows, it can't last forever- or what if I get tired of it? I had to invest!" Yolei said.

"But in a bar during the middle of a pandemic?" Sora looked concerned.

"This isn't going to last forever! Besides, when it all goes away, all the restaurants are going to be busy! And I want our old hangout back!" Yolei yelled.

"Well, I'm happy for you!" Mimi grinned.

"Thanks Mimi! Someone's happy!" Yolei huffed.

"I'm happy for you too, just shocked!" Sora gasped.

"You know what? We could do some renovations…which could be really fun for my RickRoll page! And then if they don't take too long, we could throw a party at the end! A huge celebration! We can celebrate Yolei's new bar, Jonesy going to Johnson and Wales, Matt heading to NASA, and whatever else!" Mimi winked.

"Oooh, I like that!" Yolei clapped her hands in excitement. "Can we start now?"

"Sure! I just gotta call an old friend of ours. He likes to celebrate things!" Mimi smiled.

"Holy shit, I think we've got our work cut out for us," Matt said as he stared at the walls of the pub.

"There's like ten of us here, we could bang this out in no time," Tess said.

"Make that eleven and a half!"

"Oh my god, Pepe Silvia! You made it!" Mimi ran over to an older tan man in a suit.

"Hey, what's with the baby strapped to your chest like a bomb?" TK asked.

"Ah, this is my grandson, Thierry. He'll grow into his name," Pepe said.

"Aww, how cute! I didn't know you had a grandson," Sora played with the baby.

"I didn't know I had a grandson, or a son. Anyways, you can all call me grandpère now," Pepe winked.

"I think we'll pass. We already have one and he's creepy," TK said.

"Fair enough," Pepe said. "So this is the little investment you snatched up!"

"Yep! And I want to bring it back to its old Irish glory!" Yolei proudly said.

"Do you mind if I help out? I don't want to take ownership, but I would like to help with the project. I met my first love at this exact bar. Unfortunately, she was the one who got away. This would be like my little tribute," Pepe said.

"How sweet," Mimi sighed.

"If you want to! I won't stop you!" Yolei laughed.

"Excellent! Here's an old photo for inspiration. Siobhan…gorgeous red hair that framed her face just right," Pepe handed Yolei a worn photo.

"Wow, look at you guys. You kinda look like Tai, except with nicer hair," Yolei tapped the photo.

"And she kinda looks like if Sora got a perm. Oh my god, I just got a great idea," Mimi grinned evilly.

"What?" Tai nervously gulped.

"We have to recreate this entire look! The lamps, the booths, the walls, the everything. And I mean, everything…," Mimi exclaimed.

"I'd like that a lot. I've hunted down some fixtures waiting for the perfect day. I can start ordering them," Pepe said.

"Great! Now boys, I need you to take those ugly decorations off of the walls!" Mimi said.

"We've been on that already," TK said.

"And us girls are gonna figure out what to do with the rest…somewhere, after I do this," Mimi pulled out her phone. "Hey guys, this is Mimi and we're at my friend Yolei's bar right now. Some of you guys might know her as HawkeClaw_12, but she's one of my closest friends! Right now, we're renovating a bar that she just bought and we're planning to bring it back to it's original form. So this is what it looks like now," Mimi slowly moved her phone around the room. "Oh, and that's my boyfriend here, isn't he cute?"

"Hi Mimi," Izzy turned red and waved at the camera.

"See? He's so cute!" Mimi kissed him on the cheek and went back to filming the room. "So anyways, we're planning to bring this mess of a restaurant back into a cozy Irish pub, like in this photo! Stay tuned for Part 2! Love you guys!"

"Did you just reveal your boyfriend on camera?" Jonesy teased.

"Oops, I hope you don't mind," Mimi bit her lip.

"I'm pretty sure it was gonna happen anyways," Izzy turned red.

"Oh my god, I'm so excited! This is going to turn out like a dream!" Mimi squealed.

"It's funny, I think you're more excited about this than me, and this is my bar!" Yolei smirked.

"I feel like it's because she has something up her sleeve," Izzy crossed his arms.

"Can I borrow this picture?" Mimi asked Pepe.

"Uh…," Pepe paused.

"I just want to take a photo of it…perfect! Okay, thanks!" Mimi handed the photo back to him and left.

One month later…

"Thanks for doing my hair, but it's not necessary," Sora gently bounced her waves.

"Hey, if I had to dress up, so do you," Mimi delicately draped a blue-and-white scarf around Sora's neck. "There, absolutely beautiful."

"Wow, you guys went all out for this…," Yolei gasped as the girls walked into the newly-renovated pub.

"Hey, when you involve me in anything, of course I'm going to be a little extra," Pepe said.

"Thanks everyone for helping me out! The bar looks beautiful! Just like it was never touched!" Yolei said in amazement.

"Yeah, it's beautiful. And when it opens up to the public, they'll like it too. But for now, we have our own private hangout until we get the okay!" Sora said.

"Sucks I won't be able to enjoy it for too long. I'll be off to school in a couple of weeks," Jonesy sighed.

"Hey, but you'll always have a place to hang when you visit us," Tai said.

"Yeah, we always manage to come back to each other," Matt nodded.

"Thanks guys," Jonesy smiled.

"Speaking of…," Izzy grabbed Mimi's hand.

"What's up?" Mimi asked.

"Uh, so we always manage to come back to each other. But I don't want to do that anymore," Izzy said.

"What you trying to say?" Mimi looked crestfallen.

"Well, to come back insinuates you left before, and I don't want to do that anymore," Izzy dropped down to one knee and held out a ring. "I want to stay with you forever. I don't want to be away from you at all anymore. Will you marry me?"

"Holy shit," TK blurted.

"Oh my god, yes! Now get up so I can kiss you!" Mimi excitedly jumped up and down.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Izzy slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up to kiss her.

"Aww," everyone said in unison.

"Okay, don't mind the smell. Just testing out the kitchen, looks like everything's in good condition. I made some appetizers," Tess brought out some fried food and placed them onto tables.

"Thanks Tess!" Yolei flirtatiously hugged him.

"Why don't we take a seat?" Tai led Sora to a booth.

"Why not? I'm starving," Sora said.

"Well, wasn't that nice? I'm proud of Izzy. I would have never thought he'd have the guts to propose, especially in front of everyone," Tai picked up an onion ring.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"He's been carrying around that ring in his pocket for a while. I think he's just been waiting for the right time, I guess," Tai said.

"So you knew that he's been planning to pop the question? How long? How come you didn't tell me?" Sora gasped.

"Nice try! If I told you, you would have told her, and she would have not been surprised," Tai said.

"Well, what else have you been keeping from me?" Sora pretended to be miffed.

"I dunno if it's the right time," Tai smirked.

"Hey! You guys! You're in the perfect spot! You can recreate Pepe's picture!" Mimi excitedly said.

"Oh, yes! Can you please? It would mean a lot," Pepe pleaded.

"Uh, sure…," Tai said.

"Siobhan, she had a fiery appearance but she was much more demure on the inside. Such a rare beauty. Here, you have to hold her hand, like I did in the photo," Pepe adjusted Tai and Sora so that they were holding hands over the table. "Perfect."

"Absolutely perfect!" Mimi smiled. "I'll send you the photo!"

"Thank you guys. It means a lot," Pepe tearfully said.

"No problem," Sora gently placed her other hand on top of Tai's.

"Sora…I think maybe this could be the right time after all," Tai blushed.

"What's up?" Sora lifted her hand away.

"No. I don't want you to let me go. I'm sorry I was an idiot. I think I was just scared, but I don't want to be scared anymore," Tai sighed.

"You scared? Of what? You're never scared of anything," Sora scoffed.

"I think I was just scared of the possibility of losing my best friend. Sora, I don't want to lose you anymore," Tai held up an onion ring.

"Tai, if I'm not mistaken, you sound like you're trying to rip off of Izzy's speech right now," Sora poked the onion ring teasingly.

"Dad, you didn't try to propose to Mom with an onion ring, did you?" Tai's son gasped.

"But can you put it past him?" Sora dryly said.

"Okay, I'm not the most romantic guy, but I managed to get the girl. Took me a while-"

"Yes, it did. But I'm glad we got there," Sora gently kissed the top of Tai's head. "Look at you, Theo…you're so grown. Almost as tall as your dad. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks Mom," Tai's son turned red.

*knock knock*

"Open up, it's Izzybee!"

"Coming," Tai's son opened the door and a girl with spiky red hair ran inside and hugged him.

"Happy birthday, Theodore! Don't you look so handsome," The girl squeezed his face.

"Cut it out Isabelle, you're embarrassing me," Tai's son blushed.

"She may look like her dad, but definitely takes up after her mom," Sora looked amused.

"Speaking of, the gang wants to meet up at the bar in a couple of minutes. Do you want to go?" Tai asked.

"Sure! Sounds like a good time. Let me just get my scarf, it looks like it might get colder out," Sora picked up a blue-and-white scarf from a coat rack.

"Oh by the way, here's a little present for your your troubles," Tai handed his son a gift bag.

"Oooh, is that alcoh-"

"Shh! Just take it and go! And don't get used to it. Don't tell your mom, that goes for the both of you. And just don't tell anyone…. I don't want to be known as the cool dad who buys alcohol, so this is your one time only," Tai shook his head.

"You got it boss!" Isabelle nodded.

"Bye!" Tai's son ran out of the apartment and pulled Isabelle along with him.

"Did they leave already?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I think they're gonna hang out before the rest of their friends catch up," Tai said.

"I think he likes her," Sora hummed.

"Why wouldn't he? If he's anything like his dad, he has a thing for the redheads," Tai smirked.

"Yeah, and if he's anything like his dad, hopefully it doesn't take him until he's almost thirty to realize it. Come on, love. We don't want to be late," Sora kissed him on the lips and grabbed her jacket.

"Yeah, I don't like being late," Tai said as he closed the door behind them.